It was a bus tour like few others, with sightseeing confined to trouble spots where traffic fatalities have saturated parts of U.S. Highway 101 for the past seven months.
About 35 members of a newly formed steering committee, overseeing a state-funded Highway Traffic Safety Corridor program, on Tuesday looped a 33-mile segment between the road’s junction with state Highway 112 and the Jefferson County line.
At one roadside stop between Port Angeles and Sequim, passengers were treated to an unexpected and timely example of the type of aggressive driving that has contributed to a frightening 18 traffic fatalities on North Olympic Peninsula highways since Jan. 1.
A semi-truck traveling eastbound and loaded with lumber crossed the centerline and passed the bus in a two-lane stretch of road near Shore Road, nearly hitting it as the truck re-entered the eastbound lane to avoid oncoming traffic.
State Patrol Lt. Clint Casebolt could only shake his head.
“It speaks for itself,” Casebolt said as he addressed passengers from the front of the bus.